27 replies to this topic

[Mme. Hermine]

Right here in River City, Major Mel.....

[Watermill]

Good grief...what a trail of tears...I remember the trio from their fairly brief stay at OBT.  There was great drama in their leave-taking as I remember, but one didn't know how much of it to ascribe to Canfield and his peculiarities.

Here's my question: If Suzanne Farrell Ballet, with all her support, star power and reputation after 3 years has a 1.5 million budget, a pick up company and only 20 weeks a year, who did these folks think they were? Starting with a $2.7 million budget?!  Based on ticket sales!? Wow...

The lack of a general manager or financial officer seems a critical mistake.

What's so sad to me is the uprooted, devestated lives of people who just wanted to dance.  Not since LA Ballet...

Stars in your eyes can quickly turn to tears.

[balletmama]

And is Charleston big enough to support two ballet companies?  I know  Charleston Ballet Theatre is more contemporary, but still...

[citibob]

Charleston already had two companies.  But supposedly, ASB was supposed to serve a wider region.

Another problem was their disdain for hiring Americans.  I learned today that English National Ballet is allocated two work visas per year.  They regularly turn down qualified non-British they would otherwise like to hire, in favor of British dancers.  Until Globalization becomes universal (probably not a good idea), there will/should always be restrictions on hiring foreigners.

And yet here was an American company that showed very little desire to hire American dancers...

[GretchenStar]

This sounds pretty sad, although I have to say- I was pretty skeptical reading about this.  I saw a link to a website for a documentary on the company and then went to the ASB website and read the "Letter from the Artists".  Would seem like a scam to me (to drum up support and money), but considering people actually relocated to be a part of the company... I guess that would be too "Hollywood-ish".

[sneds]

Hi!
Actually, (at least based at the roster on the website), a large number (most?) of the Atlantic Southeast Ballet dancers are from the US, or at least were trained in this country.  They include four SAB Workshop alums, two who formerly danced with the Carolina Ballet and one from the Kansas City Ballet.

And on a slightly different theme....would we really be so happy if companies in the US did not hire foreign dancers or the restrictions were tighter than they are now?  

Think of all the foreign dancers who have and continue to enrich American dance...14 of the 19 principal dancers at ABT are foreign born (15 if you include Gillian Murphy) and I have not noticed many complaints about the international diversity in ABT (or in NYCB, though to a lesser extent).

I think that the diversity of our ballet companies is one of their main strengths and we should not hire American dancers just because they are American.  American immigration laws will always limit who can be hired, we don't need to add any more barriers.  As for the English National Ballet-they have plenty of foreign dancers, restrictions or no restrictions.  Jose Manuel Carreno and Carlos Acosta both danced with ENB in the early days of their careers...

Kate

[Mel Johnson]

For those who haven't seen it:

http://balletalert.i...topic=15051&hl=

Judge for yourself.  Or not, as you like.

[citibob]

I got the impression from reading the articles that ASB received some kind of special dispensation allotment of visas.

14 out of 19 ABT principles are foreign-born?  That just indicates to me the poor state of ballet in this country.  Why can't we do better?  That means to me that if we weren't so wealthy and able to attract foreigners with high salaries, we'd barely have a ballet at all.

Contrast with Balanchine: he built a system that turned out great dancers, and he was willing to hire them.

[salzberg]

citibob, on Dec 11 2003, 11:45 PM, said:

Contrast with Balanchine: he built a system that turned out great dancers, and he was willing to hire them.

Bingo.

The key is in your last phrase.

Balanchine was willing to hire American dancers.  Unfortunately, many American companies have the idea that "foreign is better" (it used to be "European is better," but the Chinese seem to be in vogue right now), so many American dancers have to go overseas to be appreciated.

[stinger784]

Here is the film that will explain it all.  You can see my buddy Nikolai, Liesl, and Kerrie Anne.  Three former Ballet Internationale dancers.  They are great friends who got burned by liars and cheaters.  Empty promises.  Contracts not signed.  Pledges not in writing.  The Crowder's should have a class action lawsuit filed against them.  I wouldn't be suprised if they are in a different country by now.
http://www.tornasold...com/thewaiting/

Enjoy this sad story...
~Stinger~

[Fraildove]

I am still not able to view the trailer. Any ideas why?

[Karen]

No idea unless you can not download the file which is rather large?
Karen

[stinger784]

Make sure you have the proper programs such as Windows Media or Quicktime on your computer.  If you have DSL it should only take about 15 seconds to load, as for dial-up I couldn't help you.  Sorry.  My friend, Kerrie Anne, said that this movie should be going to Sundance in the near future.

Edited by stinger784, 03 January 2004 - 09:39 AM.